AP, K'taka police say no IPL during elections

Police from the southern state of India, Andhra Pradesh have gatecrashed Lalit Modi's party by saying that they will not be able to provide security for the IPL during the elections.

The Andhra Pradesh police has written to the home ministry saying that matches can only be held in the state once the polling phase is over.

Both Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam, the newly added venue, are in the state of the Andhra Pradesh and this decision by the police means that the Deccan Chargers might not play any of their home games in the state. Another franchise Chennai Super Kings are also unlikely to play any of their home games in their home state, Tamil Nadu.

The IPL will now have to work around this obstacle as they fine tune the schedule and try to ensure that everything goes ahead as planned.

Meanwhile the Commissioner of Police, Bangalore city, Shankar Bidri said that the organizers of the Indian Premier League will have to make security arrangements on their own when matches are played in Bangalore during the elections.

"Our priority is the elections and we will deploy our entire force for the peaceful conduct of the polls," he said.

Home Minister V S Acharya when questioned about the same issue said that it would be better if the matches are held after May 16th due to security issues.

"Like all other states, we too are not in favour of having the matches being played at the time of the elections," the Home Minister said.